Chapter 5 Vocabulary

Question 1

Trojan War

Answer 1

A war, fought around 1200 B.C., in which an army led by Mycenaean kings attacked the independent trading city of Troy in Anatolia.

Question 2

Dorian

Answer 2

A Greek-speaking people that, according to tradition, migrated into mainland Greece after the destruction of the Mycenaean civilization.

Question 3

Homer

Answer 3

A blind storyteller who wrote narrative poems between 750 and 700 B.C.

Question 4

Epic

Answer 4

A long narrative poem celebrating the deeds of legendary or traditional heroes.

Question 5

Myth

Answer 5

A traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society

Question 6

Polis

Answer 6

A Greek city-state– the fundamental political unit of Ancient Greece after about 750 B.C.

Question 7

Acropolis

Answer 7

A fortified hilltop in an Ancient Greek city

Question 8

Monarchy

Answer 8

A government in which power is in the hands of a single person

Question 9

Aristocracy

Answer 9

A government in which the ruler has unlimited power and uses it in an arbitrary manner

Question 10

Oligarchy

Answer 10

A government in which power is in the hands of a few people especially one in which rule is based upon wealth

Question 11

Tyrant

Answer 11

In Ancient Greece, a powerful individual who gained control of a city-state’s government by appealing to the poor for support

Question 12

Democracy

Answer 12

A government controlled by its citizens, either directly or through representatives

Question 13

He lot

Answer 13

In the society of ancient Sparta, a peasant bound to the land

Question 14

Phalanx

Answer 14

A military formation of foot soldiers armed with spears and shields

Question 15

Persian Wars

Answer 15

A series of wars in the fifth century B.C., in which Greek city-states battled the Persian Empire

Question 16

Direct Democracy

Answer 16

A government in which citizens rule directly rather than through representatives

Question 17

Classical Art

Answer 17

The art of Ancient Greece and Rome, in which harmony, order, and proportion, were emphasized

Question 18

Tragedy

Answer 18

A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic or noble character

Question 19

Comedy

Answer 19

A humorous form of drama that often includes slapstick and satire

Question 20

Peloponnesian War

Answer 20

A war lasting from 431 to 404 B.C., in which Athens and its allies were defeated by Sparta and its allies.

Question 21

Philosopher

Answer 21

A thinker who uses logic and reason to investigate the nature of the universe, human society, and morality

Question 22

Socrates

Answer 22

A Greek man who lived from 470 to 399 B.C. and believed that absolute standards for truth and justice existed. He was condemned to death by a jury for “neglecting the gods” and “corrupting the youth of Athens”.

Question 23

Plato

Answer 23

A Greek wrestler, poet, and then philosopher who lived from 427 to 347 B.C. He was a student of Socrates and wrote a book called “The Republic”

Question 24

Aristotle

Answer 24

A Greek philosopher who lived from 384 to 322 B.C. He was a pupil of Plato and tutored Alexander the Great

Question 25

Philip II

Answer 25

A king of Macedonia who ruled from 359 to 336 B.C. when he was killed. Philip used peasants to form an army and defeated the Greeks.

Question 26

Macedonia

Answer 26

An ancient kingdom north of Greece, whose ruler Philip II conquered Greece in 338 B.C.

Question 27

Alexander the Great

Answer 27

A Macedonian king who lived from 356 to 323 B.C. He conquered many places including Persia and Egypt.

Question 28

Darius III

Answer 28

A Persian king who fled when Alexander approached and ended up giving Alexander control over Anatolia. He was so afraid of Alexander, he left behind his wives and children

Question 29

Hellenistic

Answer 29

Relating to the civilization, language, art, science, and literature of the Greek world from the reign of Alexander the Great to the late second century B.C.

Question 30

Alexandria

Answer 30

An Egyptian city named after Alexander the Great. It was a hub of commerce and for Hellenistic civilization and housed a library, zoo, museum, and a lighthouse called the Pharos b

Question 31

Euclid

Answer 31

A highly regarded mathematician whose work is still the basis for geometry courses

Question 32

Archimedes

Answer 32

A Hellenistic scientist who accurately estimated the value of pi. He also invented a device that raised water from the ground called the Archimedes screw.

Question 33

Colossus of Rhodes

Answer 33

A enormous Hellenistic statue that formerly stood near the harbor of Rhodes.

Question 34

Mycenaean

Answer 34

An Indo-European person who settled on the Greek mainland around 2000 B.C.